Tour de France sparks creative energy in Yorkshire

From a bicycle orchestra to pedal-powered gigs, cycling has inspired a burst of creative energy in Yorkshire as the county prepares to host the launch of the Tour de France in July.

THE WACKY RACES

With video goggles and real live helpers, Le Grand Voyage is a truly interactive experience

I am trying to take part in a bike race but have been jostled by some female roller-skaters, a small child has overtaken me on a tricycle and one of my team members has been kidnapped by a water pistol-wielding masked man.

Bradley Wiggins would not have put up with this.

So thank goodness that this is just a virtual reality bike race and I am really on an exercise bike on the third floor of an arts centre in Barnsley.

Wearing video goggles, I am watching a film that puts me at the heart of this odd race while instructions ("Pedal faster"; "Shake your fist"; "Stick your leg out") are relayed through headphones.

Although I cannot see them, there are real people in the room adding physical effects like the jostling and the water-squirting.

The Barnsley Civic is also hosting an exhibition on bicycle design

This enjoyable immersive theatrical experience, called Le Grand Voyage, has been devised by Harrogate Theatre to mark the real Tour de France's arrival in Yorkshire at the start of July.

It is one of many cycling-related performances, exhibitions and experiences being staged as part of the Yorkshire Festival, a £2m cultural festival taking place across the county in the run-up to the Tour.

And Barnsley is the first stop in my quest to sample as much of the festival as possible in a single day.

Le Grand Voyage is being staged at the Barnsley Civic, which is also hosting Bike Show, an excellent bike-related exhibition of Tour de France history and the evolution of bicycle design.

ART OF THE LAND

The giant land art installations are best seen in daylight

As the light drains at the end of the longest day, I drive to a vantage point outside nearby Haworth, where you are supposed to be able to spot three of 12 large works of art that have been etched into the landscape along the Tour de France route.

I think I can just about make out some patterns in the grass in the valley below, but with the failing light and my failing eyesight I cannot be sure.

Instead, I sit on a bench for a while and just admire the landscape, which does not need any artistic adornments to make it look beautiful. The world (or the bits that like cycling, anyway) will see that too in two weeks time.

The land art installations, under the title Fields of Vision, will be available until 6 July. The Tour de France departs from Leeds on 5 July.